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Mole Man Big Head by Mike Falcigno

July 10th, 2009

Originally published April 27, 2006, at GJSentinel.com.

Earthbound\'s Mole Man Big Head

• “MOLE MAN BIG HEAD”
• Produced by Earthbound Studios.
• Designed and sculpted by Mike Falcigno.
• Scale according to Mike: Technically the Big Head line is 2/3 scale, basically very close to 1/1 scale but people sometimes think they are 1/1 because if you take a 7-foot monster’s head and make it 2/3 scale it is still the size of an average human head, hence the confusion.
• Material: Resin.
• Price: $150 plus shipping.
• Kit pictured painted by Steve Parke.

Earthbound Mole Man Big HeadOccasionally, some garage-kit fan will visit one of the various Internet forums available and ask the assorted members: What’s the appeal of a bust? This question inevitably leads to a bunch of sophomoric jokes about women and bosoms; I don’t have the stats to prove it, but I suspect at least 75 percent of the people who build these kinds of kits are male, and like most guys we’ll take any opportunity to discuss female anatomy with a level of sophistication that rivals Beavis and Butt-Head.

Then genuine explanations get thrown around. Busts are distinct from the full-figure kits and have their own unique appeal. Since busts generally don’t go much beyond head and shoulders, the scale is larger and the facial expressions more interesting. Busts are more “artsy”. They use up less space on the shelf. The smaller ones don’t take long to complete. And so on.

However, I think most of us get the appeal of the Big Head busts from Earthbound Studios. First, the sculptures are simply fantastic. Second, they’re big, and that’s important to guys. You don’t appreciate just how big until you actually see one right in front of you. Third, the subject matter (most of them are B-movie monsters). Fourth, they’re offered by Mark Brokaw’s Earthbound Studios, which means you’ll get a first-rate kit for a fair price. The sculptor of this week’s Mole Man, Mike Falcigno (pronounced “fal-cig-no”), said $150 for the Big Head busts is an “incredible value” for their size and quality, and he’s right.

I traded e-mails with Mike recently to find out a little more about him and his work. He’s a 31-year-old resident of Milford, Conn., produces garage kits under the name TerrorForm Design, and has been with his girlfriend, Erin, for five years. Mike is talented enough to make his living as a full-time 3D/2D artist and he writes a weekly home video column called“Digital Creep” for the Fairfield County Weekly.

Fiend Without a FaceIn addition to the… Read the rest

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Cliff Green’s T-rex

July 10th, 2009

Originally published April 20, 2006, at GJSentinel.com.

Cliff Green

TYRANNOSAURUS “CENTENNIAL” REX
Produced by Cliff Green Studio of Price, Utah
Sculpted by Cliff Green, who also does his own painting
6 inches tall, 12 inches long. It’s 1/35 scale, representing a 38-foot-long dinosaur with a 5-foot-long skull
$50 for an unpainted kit (two parts, dino and base), $140 for a painted resin statue, $1,000 for a bronze statue

My interest in model kits was sparked somewhere around age 7; my interest in dinosaurs predates that by at least a couple of years. These two fascinations have risen and fallen with me over the years, but neither has ever faded completely away. So, when I found out recently about Cliff Green, a sculptor whose works include small dinosaur sculptures he sells as kits, working practically in the neighborhood, I had to get in touch to find out more.

Cliff loves prehistoric animals and for the last seven years has made a living as a professional sculptor specializing in prehistoric fauna. He recently worked on a full-sized Dilophosaurus wetherilli bronze monument for the St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site at Johnson Farm and hopes to start a full-sized Brontotherium hatcheri bronze monument for Badlands National Park in South Dakota soon.

For “self-therapy”, Cliff also sculpts, casts and sells 1/35th scale prehistoric animals, including the T-rex pictured above. I was glad Cliff suggested focusing on this in my blog, because the T-rex has long been the dino that most fascinated me (probably because I thought he was the toughest). Cliff describes this sculpture as being rendered under the direction of some of the top Tyrannosaur experts of the 21st century, during the June 2005“100 years of T-Rex Symposium” in Hill City, S.D. The anatomy, pose and skin are based on the experts’ critiques.

Cliff works out of the garage and front room at his home but hopes to buy a studio when the Brontotherium commission in South Dakota comes in, “hopefully very soon.” In the meantime, he says people are welcome to visit him at his address but need to call at least a day ahead of time “so I can hide the bodies.” If you’re interested, give him a ring at (435) 636-0887 or send him an e-mail at dinonaut@emerytelcom.net; I’ll leave it to him to share the actual address. He can also send you a price list if you contact him through e-mail.

For fellow garage-kit enthusiasts, it’s also worth mentioning that Cliff’s brother, John, ran John Green Models for 25 years. That operation closed up shop… Read the rest

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Ultimate Soldier by Alterton

July 10th, 2009

Originally published April 13, 2006, at GJSentinel.com.

Alterton\'s Ultimate Soldier

“THE ULTIMATE SOLDIER”
Produced by Mad Dog Resin
Sculpted by Alterton
1/6 scale, resin kit, comes in 10 unassembled, unpainted pieces
$135 plus shipping
Kit in pictures painted by Norm “Kitman” Piatt
Ultimate Soldier by AltertonIt’s amazing the people around the world a hobby can put you in contact with, thanks largely to the Internet. Before getting re-interested in model kits in late 2001, it would never have occurred to me that one day I would encounter Alterton, a former dentist who now works as a freelance sculptor. And if these facts alone don’t strike you as at least slightly off the beaten path, consider how Alterton describes his home to this geographically unsophisticated fellow:

“I am in a small city called Trelew in Chubut province, to the south in Argentina in a beautiful region called Patagonia. I was born here and turned back at the end of 2005 with my lady after 11 years living in Buenos Aires.”

This fellow from Argentina is a comic book fan, and he’s the creative force behind the sculpture of the red, white and blue hero in the pictures. A few weeks ago, I spoke with Norm Piatt of Paradoxx Resin and John Allred about an Alterton piece called “Aldrhiel The Forgotten One”; this week, I’m pleased to say Alterton fought past the flu and a bad Net connection to tell me a little more through e-mail about himself, “The Ultimate Soldier” and his work in general.

Me: How did a person from your part of the world get involved in sculpting a character who is so distinctly United States-oriented?

Alterton: Thing is, I have always loved fantasy-related stories. My grandfather and then my father were fans of an Argentinean editorial called Columba, with great fantasy characters and stories, those were the days Argentina had a great production of fantasy comics with magazines like Nippur de Lagash, El Tony, D’Artagnan, Scorpio, etc etc etc.

Ultimate Soldier by AltertonWe had great storytellers and 2D artists working for national publications and international comics, especially from Europe (France, Italy, Spain, Germany). As for the American comics; Mexican, Spanish and Argentinean editorials (VID, Abril, Novaro, etc) were reproducing Marvel and DC characters.

By the time I was a child and living at the a** of the world (yeah, Trelew is 932 miles south from Buenos Aires), it was really difficult to get those American publications, so I had to wait until summer holidays to go to Buenos Aires to spend Christmas with the rest of my… Read the rest

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Gabe Perna’s visions of villains

July 10th, 2009

First published April 6, 2006, at GJSentinel.com.

Question: Whose idea was it for you to sculpt your own visions of these comic villains?

Gabe Perna, sculptor: It was one of those things where I just kinda started one and saw that I was having some fun. I wanted to make a sculpt that was sort of “museum bust”-like, with the sides and back truncated, in a larger scale than some of the stuff I had been doing at that point. No sooner than I finished the first one, I had started the second. They were quick and a real blast to sculpt. I showed ‘em to Randy of Killing Time Kits and that was that!

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If you’re looking to kill a little time by building a model, Killing Time Kits has three killers worth considering. They’re the unique visions of DC Comics villains by the sculptor Gabe Perna, dubbed “some of Gabe’s best work” by Randy at Killing Time, which is saying something.

Darkseid by Perna

“THE MONARCH”

Inspired by DARKSEID, ruler of the planet Apokolips

Painted by Dan Cope

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Bizarro by Perna

“ME AM #1″

Inspired by BIZARRO #1, an imperfect duplicate of Superman

Painted by Dan Cope

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Killer Croc by Perna

“CROCODILE JONES”

Inspired by Batman enemy KILLER CROC

Painted by Joe Dunaway

All three museum-style resin busts are about 10.5 inches tall, a little larger than 1/4 scale, and sell for $60 plus shipping. They all come in two parts and are unpainted.

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Gabe and Randy are two more guys I encountered through the Clubhouse Internet modeling community. Randy started out like me, a fan of garage kits (although he’s more talented), then he branched into kit production after a couple years or so. Gabe came along a bit later and quickly drew a lot of attention because of his striking style of sculpting. For some reason, both of these jokers struck me as guys a person could get along with, and I found out for sure that was true when I met them last year at WonderFest in Louisville, Ky.

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Here’s more of my e-mail Q&A with Gabe:

Me: What hours of the day do you sculpt, and do you have any kind of snack or drink on hand while you’re working?

Gabe: I keep the worst sort of hours (in a traditional sense). I generally stay up hammering the clay until about 5:30 am and rise… Read the rest

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Bubba the Redneck Werewolf and John Diaz

July 10th, 2009

Originally published March 30, 2006, at GJSentinel.com.

Doesn’t this look like a happy fella?

Bubba the Redneck Werewolf

Meet “Bubba the Redneck Werewolf”, a 1/6 scale resin kit from the wonderful folks at Resin Realities and Wolf’s Den. The kit’s sculptor is Mark VanTine and it comes unbuilt in four resin parts; the one in the pictures was painted by Saul Alvarez. Bubba – who is also the star of his own comic and soon a movie – will be available in kit form for only a limited time; the price is $65 unbuilt or $75 for an assembled “bronzed” edition, plus shipping.

Sculpting Bubba “was a fairly straightforward job, which I both designed and executed,” MVT told me in an e-mail. “When finished, I sent it to John to do his thing.

“I’ve been working with John for over 10 years now, and over the years we’ve both learned to trust each other enough to allow the other to do their job. That’s the best way to work, if you ask me.”

The “John” he’s referring to is John Diaz, president of Resin Realities, a person known and admired by garage-kit fans around the world. I’ve known John for a few years, mostly because we’re both members of the Clubhouse modeling community, and I’ve also done a few transactions with him. I finally got to meet him face to face in the dealer room last year atWonderFest in Louisville, Ky. It was amazing; I approached John’s table with a bit of trepidation, wondering if I should bother to introduce myself; before I could decide, and while I was still several steps away, he picked out the name in small type on the tag I was wearing, gave me a big smile and started a conversation. Being able to make people so comfortable, so quickly, is a rare gift.

Bubba the Redneck Werewolf

Here’s what John had to say about Bubba in particular and producing garage kits in general recently through e-mail:

Me – What can you tell me about the character Bubba the Redneck Werewolf? (I wasn’t even aware of the comic until last week or so.)

John – Bubba was a character created by a friend of mine, Mitch Hymen. The story goes that he was a dogcatcher who was bitten by a dog that had been infected due to cosmetic testing in a lab and escaped.

Bubba likes to drink beer, drive a 4×4, has a hot girlfriend named Bobby Joe and is extremely jealous of anyone around her. He is more of an antihero as he really… Read the rest

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Koma’s Unbreakable David Dunn

July 10th, 2009

First published March 23, 2006, at GJSentinel.com.

“How many days of your life have you been sick?”

David Dunn (played by Bruce Willis) is a man sadly moving through a midlife crisis until he becomes the only person out of hundreds to survive a train derailment in director M. Night Shyamalan’s “Unbreakable.” Then he finds a note under his windshield wiper, asking the question above, and things get really interesting.

David Dunn, see, goes on to meet the man who wrote the note – Elijah Price, a.k.a. “Mr. Glass” (Samuel L. Jackson, wearing a hairstyle inspired by Frederick Douglass) – and eventually accepts he has the ability to be a superhero, of sorts, in a real world that isn’t as much fun as the pages of most comic books.

Unbreakable David Dunn

Unbreakable back

“Unbreakable David Dunn” is a new model kit produced by KOMA Designs and available from Amok Time. It’s a 1/5 scale resin kit, 14 inches tall, five parts, includes two hoods, and sculpted by … well, all I know is the sculptor is “a real fan of this movie who wishes to remain anonymous,” according to Paul, a producer of the kit. It’s limited to 20 to 30 castings, one of which my wife, Lisa, pre-ordered for me at Christmas. The kit comes unbuilt and unpainted; the one in the pictures was painted by Saul Alvarez.

A Mr. Glass kit is also in the works from Koma.

“Unbreakable” was an acquired taste for me. First time through I sort of liked it, thought some scenes were well done but overall it was so low-key I didn’t spend much time on the edge of my seat. The ending wasn’t as big a surprise as the one in Shyamalan’s previous film, “The Sixth Sense,” but I didn’t see it coming. When the movie ended, I flipped off the TV and pretty much said, “Eh.”

Then I couldn’t get it out of my head. I bought the DVD the next week and have viewed the movie five or six times since then. Last time, when I knew this kit would arrive in my mail before long, I paid particular attention to some scenes toward the end when David battles a murderous home invader, and I started plotting ways to make his slicker look wet and dripping, like he just got out of a pool and is ready to return to the battle.

Don’t know what I’m talking about? Rent the movie. Even if you hate it – which, honestly, seems to be about half the people who watch it –… Read the rest

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Cult of Personality Wolf Man replacement parts

July 10th, 2009

Originally published March 16, 2006, at GJSentinel.com.

Every now and then, model-kit nuts like me see or buy a kit and think it looks fine, but it could be better. That’s probably why a healthy aftermarket has sprung up, with garage-kit producers making replacement heads and other parts to improve on the original without making it too expensive. A case in point is the GEOmetric Design Wolf Man. GEO has long been one of the best garage-kit companies around, offering wonderful Universal Studios monster kits cast in either vinyl with some resin parts or all resin. The Wolf Man is among them, and he’s OK … but he’s the only near dud of the bunch. Here’s the box art:

GEOmetric Wolf Man

My problem with this sculpture (if you could call it a problem) is that it seems sort of narrow up top. The shoulders are rounded, the head a tad small. Plus, the facial expression is kind of bland and the hair at the top of his head looks sort of like some 1970s Shaun Cassidy ‘do. I’m not condemning the sculptor of this kit; his name is Mike Hill and he’s an astoundingly talented artist, particularly when it comes to werewolves. This just isn’t one of his best and he told me in an Internet chat room about three years ago that part of the reason for the kit’s understated impact is that it’s what GEOmetric wanted.

Even if none of this stuff bothered you, the feet probably would. This kit’s Wolf Man is standing way up on his tiptoes, making balancing the figure a challenge. I built one and he wobbles every time someone steps too heavily near the shelf.

Fortunately, Tom Parker of Cult of Personality Productions (cultofpersonality@peoplepc.com), working with sculptor Jim Maddox, recently stepped up with a new head and feet for the vinyl version of the GEO Wolf Man. Here’s a buildup by Germany’s Bernd Slominski (sometimes known online as “Classic Monsters”):

GEO Wolf Man with replacement parts

Cult of Personality’s Wolf Man replacement parts are made of resin and fit the 1/8 scale vinyl version of the GEOmetric kit. The replacement parts are sold separately from the kit, or you can buy both directly from Tom Parker for a great price. Price of the parts set alone is $25 postpaid, or $50 postpaid will also get you a bagged GEO kit (by “bagged”, I mean no box, no art, just the kit and you won’t need instructions to know what goes where). Just to make sure it’s clear, the kit doesn’t include a base. Bernd used one available from Resin Realities.

Here’s… Read the rest

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